Converging package timer



United States Patent 72] Inventor Victor Del Rosso 56] R f r Cit d [2 A l N gag?" UNITED STATES PATENTS pp. 0. I22] Filed Oct 11, 1968 3,279.581 10/1966 Drennan 198/32 |4Sl Patented Dec. 8, 1970 Primary Examiner-Edward A. Sroka I73] Assignee Hi Speed Checkweigher Co., Inc. Attorney-Bean & Bean Ithaca, New York ABSTRACT: A converging package timer for converging two or more input lines of packages into one output line of packages, wherein indexing wheels associated with each input [54] CONVERGING I TIMER line are sequentially operated to release groups of packages 9 cmmss Draw arms from the input lines for movement through the output line. [52] US. Cl. 198/32 The number of packages per group to be released upon opera- [Sl] B65g47/26 tion of the indexing wheels may be varied by adjusting the [50] Field of Search 198/34, 32, speed of rotation of the indexing wheels with respect to the 78, 80 speed at which the packages are conveyed.

PATENTED DEC 8 I970 SHEET 1 OF 2 INVENTOR. VICTOR DEL R0550 admd 43W convnncnvc PACKAGE TIMER SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement in a converging package timer of the type disclosed in my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 2,907,443, wherein two or more lines of packages are converged into a single line of packages.

While the package timer disclosed in my earlier patent remains in wide commercial use, its speed of operation is restricted by the package feeding arrangement employed, wherein only one package is released from an input line each time an indexing wheel is rotated.

In accordance with the present invention, increased speed of operation is obtained by releasing groups of packages from each input line during each rotation of an indexing wheel associated therewith. The number of packages to be released from the input lines is dependent upon the speeds of their associated indexing wheels and the relative linear speed of a conveyor belt employed to transport the packages. The equipment allows an equal number of packages to be discharged as a group from each input line, or the number of packages forming the several groups to be varied by a desired ratio.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The nature and mode of operation of the converging package timer of the present invention will now be described with reference to the following description taken with the accompanying drawings, wherein: I

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the timer of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken generally along line 33 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the indexing wheel mounting and drive mechanism; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a modified indexing wheel drive mechanism for use with package timers having three package input lines.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Now referring primarily to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be seen that the package timer of the present invention includes a table having a pair of elongated side rails 11, 11a; a cover plate 12, which extends transversely between side rails 11, 11a and forms a top for table 10; and a plurality of leg supports 13. Movable over cover plate 12 is a flexible belt conveyor 14, which is trained over table end mounted drive roller 15 and idling guide roller 16. Belt conveyor 14 may be continuously driven in the direction indicated by arrow 18 in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 by an electric motor 19, which is coupled to drive roller 15 by link chain drive 20. If desired, tension within belt conveyor 14 may be readily controlled by an arrangement including statignary guide rollers 21, 22 and an adjustable tension roller 2 Now referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, it will be seen that a plurality of package feed chutes, only two being indicated generally at 30, 31 for purposes of illustration, may be provided adjacent one end of table 10 for the purpose of defining input lines of packages 32, 33, wherein the packages within each line are disposed in alined surface-abutting engagement, and bottom supported by belt conveyor 14 for movement therewith. Chutes 30, 31 are shown for purposes of illustration as being formed by pairs of parallel guides 34, 34a and 35, 35a, respectively, which are carried on a pair of generally E- shaped mountings 37, 38 spaced apart lengthwise of table 10. Mountings 37, 38 may be suitably affixed, as by bolts 39, to table side rails 11, 11a.

The widths of chutes 30, 31 may be individually adjusted to accommodate packages of varying thicknesses by employing suitable means, such as adjustment screw spacers 40 to attach guides 34--35a to mountings 37, 38.

timer shown in FIG.

As indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2 packages 32, 33 after being discharged in groups 32a, 334 from chutes 30, 31 in the manner to be hereinafter described, are moved by belt conveyor 14 towards the output end of table 10 while being collected as a single output line of packages by an output chute 45. Output chute 45 includes 'a pair of guides 46, 460 having converging input end portions 47, 47a and parallel output end portions 48, 48a. The spacing between guides 46, 46a may be selectively varied to accommodate packages of varying thicknesses by any suitable means, such as adjustment screw spacers 49, 49a by which such guides are supported on table rail mounted brackets 50, 50a, respectively.

In accordance with the present invention, indexing wheels 60, 61 are provided one for each of package feed chutes 30, 31, respectively; Preferably as shown in FIGS. 2-4, each of the indexing wheels is provided with upper and lower identically shaped wheel parts, to prevent tilting of relatively tall packages. Indexing wheels 60, 61 are formed on their peripheral surfaces with radially projecting cam portions 60a, 61a, which define radially extending package stop surfaces 60b, 61b, respectively.

As shown particularly in FIGS. 3 and 4, indexing wheels 60, 61 are rotatably supported immediately above belt conveyor 14 by vertically extending index shafts 62, 63, respectively, which are in turn rotatably supported on table 10 by bearings, not shown. Index shafts 62, 63 are drivingly interconnected by bevel gears 64, 65 to transversely extending axially alined follower shafts 66, 67, respectively. As best shown in FIG. 3, adjacent ends of follower shafts 66, 67 are journaled within a pair of spaced, table mounted bearings 68, 69 and whereas oppositely extending ends thereof are journaled within table mounted bearings 70, 71.

By referring to FIG. 4, it will be understood that index wheels 60, 61 are adapted to be intermittently driven by jackshaft 73, which is in turn adapted to be continuously driven by electric motor 19 through a link chain drive 74 trained about jackshaft-mounted sprocket 75. Jackshaft 73 may be journaled in table mounted bearings 73a, 73b, which are best shown in FIG. 1. Specifically, index wheels 60, 61 are intermittently connected to jackshaft 73 through on-off clutches, which are generally designated at 76, 77 and have output elements, not shown, connected to follower shafts 66, 67 and input elements, also not shown, continuously driven by sprockets 78, 79. Sprockets 78, 79 are drivinglyconnected to jackshaft mounted sprockets 80, 81 by link chain drives 82, 83, respectively. For the reason to be hereinafter discussed, sprockets 78, 79 are proportionately smaller than sprockets 80, 81 to permit the former, and thus index wheels 60, 61 when coupled thereto, to be driven at a greater rotational speed than jackshaft 73.

On-off clutches 76, 77 have release mechanisms including actuators 86, 87, which are pivotally supported on pivot pins 88, 39 and adapted to be normally biased by compression springs 90, 91 into locking engagement with detents 94, 95 provided on release sleeves 96, 97, which circumferentially bound the bodies of clutches 76, 77, respectively.

When actuators 86, 87 are disposed in locking engagement with detents 94, 95, release sleeves 96, 97 are prevented from rotating with sprockets 78, 79, whereby maintaining clutches 76, 77 in their off or deenergized condition. when clutches 76, 77 are in their off condition, follower shafts 66, 67 are drivingly disconnected from sprockets 78, 79. Clutches 76, 77 may be placed in their on or energized condition, wherein release sleeves 96, 97 rotate with sprocket 78, 79 and follower shafts 66, 67 are directly locked for rotation with sprockets 78, 79 by pivoting actuators 86, 87 against the bias of springs 90, 91 from engagement with detents 94, 95 by any suitable means, such as solenoids 100, 101, respectively. Solenoids 100, 101 are electrically connected by a circuit, not shown, to microswitches 102, 103, which are adapted to be tripped by cam elements 104, 105, respectively, carried by jackshaft 73.

Commercially available on-off clutch susceptible of use are Series C and D clutches, which are manufactured by the Marquette Division of Curtiss Wright Corporation. The Series D type clutch is, however, preferable in that this type of clutch is characterized by its ability to prevent coasting of follower shafts 66, 67 subsequent to deenergizing clutches 76, 77.

When clutch actuators 86, 87 are in the positions shown in FIG. 4, both on-off clutches 76, 77 are in their off condition, and index wheels 60, 61 are maintained stationary in their stop positions, wherein stop surfaces 60b, 61b thereof prevent the line of packages in feed chutes 30, 31 from being moved in the direction of feed by belt conveyor 14.

Operation of the timer thus far described will be best understood by first considering an arrangement, wherein two feed chutes 30, 31 are employed and it is desired to discharge equal sized groups of packages from such chutes during each complete cycle of operation, that is, a full rotational cycle of jackshaft 73. Also, in this arrangement, bevel gears 64, 65 having a one to one ratio are employed, so that index wheels 60, 61 will be driven through one full rotation each time clutches 76, 77 are placed in their on condition.

Now following a full rotational cycle of jackshaft 73, it will be seen that as the jackshaft revolves in the direction indicated by arrow 110 in FIG. 4, cam 104 is brought into momentary contact with microswitch 102, which when closed actuates solenoid 100 to disengage actuator 86 from detent 94, thereby placing clutch 76 in its on condition. Index wheel 60 is thereupon driven through one revolution in the direction indicated by arrow 111 whereafter clutch 76 is again placed in its off condition by reengagement of actuator 86 with detent 94. Immediately thereafter, rotation of jackshaft 73 brings cam 105 into momentary contact with microswitch 103 for the purpose of energizing solenoid 101 to permit index wheel 61 to be driven through one revolution, which is to be completed prior to contact of cam 104 with microswitch 102, during a subsequent rotational cycle of jackshaft 73. During each cycle of operation, index wheels 60, 61 are alternately driven with a suitable dwell period being provided therebetween in order to allow a previously released group of packages to be removed by belt conveyor 14 from adjacent a corresponding feed chute outlet before the next group of packages is released from the other feed chute. The rotational speeds of index wheels 60, 61 and the dwell period between driving thereof may be readily controlled by varying the sizes of sprockets 78, 79 with respect to sprockets 80, 81 and the placement of cams 104, 105 on jackshaft 73.

In order to permit stop surfaces 60b, 61b to engage and stop the movement of the next succeeding group of packages following a full rotation of wheels 60, 61, cam portions 60a, 61a serve to push the rearmost package of a released group in a lateral direction to at least partially expose the forwardly facing surface of the leading package of the succeeding group to be released.

The number of packages in each group released from the feed chutes, is dependent upon the speed of rotation of the index wheel, the dimension of the individual packages in the direction of feed and the linear speed of the belt conveyor. Thus, for a given belt conveyor speed of for example, 100 feet per minute, an individual package dimension in the direction of feed of 6 inches and an indexing wheel speed of 1 revolution per one one-hundredth minute, two packages may be released each time the indexing wheel is driven through one full revolution.

The above described timer also allows for release of the packages from the feed chutes in any desired ratio, such as the 2:1 ratio illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. This may be readily effected by varying the size of one or both of sprockets 78, 79 in order to permit indexing wheel 61 to be driven at twice the rotational speed of indexing wheel 60.

FIG. 5 illustrates the manner in which the timer may be modified to not only accommodate a three feed chute arrangement but permit two groups of packages to be discharged from the same chute during each cycle of operation. The arrangement of parts in this embodiment is similar to that illustrated in FIG. 4, except that there is provided a third index wheel 120, associated with the added feed chute, not shown. Index wheel is adapted to be driven by jackshaft 73 through an on-off clutch and driving arrangement, also not shown, under the control of a microswitch 122, which is adapted to be actuated twice during each rotational cycle of jackshaft 73 by a cam 124 having separate cam parts 124a and 124b. In this arrangement, space may be readily conserved by a supporting index shaft for index wheel 120 entirely above the belt conveyor by a suitable table mounted bracket, not shown.

In the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 5, rotation of jackshaft 73 will first bring part 1240 of cam 124 into engagement with microswitch 122 to effect one revolution driving rotation of index wheel 120. Thereafter, in sequence, cam 104 will operate microswitch 102, cam part 124b of cam 124 will again actuate microswitch 122, and cam 105 will actuate microswitch 103. Accordingly, it will be apparent that of the four groups of packages released, two will be released from the feed chute associated with index wheel 120.

Various additions to and modification of the timer herein described will become apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the foregoing description. Exemplary thereof would be to provide the index wheels associated with one or more of the feed chutes with two or more package stop surfaces. In such case, the release sleeves of associated on-off clutches would be provided with a corresponding number of detents, and bevel gears having other than a l:l gear ratio would be employed to interconnect the index wheels to their follower shafts. Further, while not desirable from the standpoint of economy and complexity of design, it would be possible to substitute plural package conveying belts for the single belt arrangement disclosed. Also, suitable memory means other than the jackshaft mounted cam and microswitch arrangement disclosed are susceptible of use. Accordingly, it is wished that protection on the present invention be limited only by the scope of the appended claims wherein:

Iclaim:

1. A timer for cyclically feeding rectangular packages from at least two input lines in a predetermined sequence into a single output line, including in combination:

continuously moving means for supporting and feeding said packages;

a plurality of rotatable index wheels associated one with each of said input lines and arranged above said moving means, said index wheels each having at least one stop surface engageable with packages of said input line with which its index wheel is associated, the foremost package in each of said input lines being interrupted in its travel with said moving means by said stop surfaces until released thereby when said index wheels are driven through a predetermined rotational cycle;

continuously operated driving means;

a plurality of motion transmission means associated one with each of said index wheels, each said motion transmission means including clutch means, said clutch means when operated being adapted to interconnect said driving means with said index wheels in order to effect driving thereof through said predetermined rotational cycle at a rotational speed determined by said driving and transmission means; and

memory means for cyclically controlling operation of said clutch means in a predetermined sequence such that said index wheels are interconnected with said driving means to permit cyclic feeding of packages from said input lines in a predetermined sequence to said output line, characterized in that for a given linear speed of said moving means and a given dimension of each said package in a direction alined with the direction of travel of said moving means the number of packages released from said input lines each time said index wheels associated therewith are driven through said predetermined rotational cycle varies inversely with the rotational speed of said index wheels.

2. A timer according to claim 1, wherein said continuously operated. driving means includes a drive shaft, and said memory means includes cam means carried on said drive shaft and switch means, said cain means and switch means corresponding in number to said clutch means, said switch means upon engagement thereof by said cam means being adapted to operate said clutch means, and said drive shaft during each rotational cycle thereof being adapted to alternately place said cam means in engagement with said switch means to effect alternate rotation of said index wheels.

3. A timer according to claim 2, wherein at least a third input line is provided and said cam means corresponding to said third line includes at least two cam parts, whereby during each rotational cycle of said drive shaft packages are released once from each of said two input lines and packages are released at least twice from said third input line.

4. A timer according to claim 1, wherein the linear speed of said moving means is constant, and said motion transmission means effects driven rotational movement of said index wheels at different rotational speeds, whereby during relative low-speed rotation of one of said index wheels a greater number of packages are released than during relatively highspeed rotation of another of said index wheels.

5. A timer according to claim 1, wherein said driving means includes a horizontally arranged drive shaft, and each said transmission means comprises:

a vertical shaft adapted to support one of said index wheels above said moving means;

a horizontally arranged follower shaft;

means drivingly connecting said vertical and follower shafts,

said clutch means being mounted on said follower shaft;

a first sprocket mounted on said clutch means;

a second sprocket mounted on said drive shaft; and

means to drivingly connect said sprockets to permit said first sprocket to be continuously driven by said drive shaft, said clutch means when operated being adapted to connect said follower shaft to said first sprocket for movement therewith to efiect rotation of said one index wheel.

6. A timer according to claim 5, wherein said memory means includes cam means carried on said drive shaft and switch means, said cam means and switch means corresponding in number to said clutch means, said switch means upon engagement thereof by said cam means serving to operate said once from each of said two input lines and packages are released at least twice from said third input line. 8. A timer according to claim 5, wherein said moving means is a conveyor belt having a constant linear speed, and said first and second sprockets associated with said index wheels are sized to permit said drive shaft to drive one of said index wheels at a lower rotational speed than another of said index wheels, whereby during relative low-speed rotation of said one index wheel a greater number of packages are released than during relatively high-speed rotation of said other index wheel.

9. A timer according to claim 1, wherein each of said index wheels is provided on a peripheral surface thereof with a radially extending cam portion, said cam portion defining a single stop surface, and said predetermined rotational cycle being one full rotation of said index wheel. 

